Hey gang, just wanted to give you a heads up that I have a programmer working hard on my next golf website adventure. It's going to be a golf course review site.

There is nothing up and running yet except some articles I have a friend putting out there as she finds them, but you can sneak a peek at:

http://www.WorldGolfReview.com

Because I travel so much, I got the idea while playing a round in the Philippines. It's going to have a huge, evolving database of golf courses, clubs, resorts, schools and training / practice facilities all over the world and then users will be able to submit reviews on the courses they have played. I know this has been done by others, but I thought it was the next logical extension to the golf "network" I'd like to build.

Once the functionality is up and running, I'm going to need some help to get people to submit reviews and update some course information. Very basic stuff. I really want it to be driven by the golf community so in addition to posting reviews, users may have the capability to send suggestions or more information, pictures, etc. about certain courses.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how I could really incent people to get in there and help with the reviews and the courses? I know it's not a lot, but I could probably afford to pay $1 for every course review or information submission. I would like to get about 20 people helping and I think we could get it off the ground and running by next golf season.

Thoughts?

Chris, a $1 isn't really going to incent someone; why don't you do monthly give-aways (sponsors' product), random drawing. The more submissions you send, the more entries you get, the more chances to win. Even if it's just a sleeve of golf balls or a golf glove, everyone likes to win a prize!

Chris,

A few suggestions. It might be good to think about how you plan to handle the review. Many sites ask people to rate on a basic scale or star system and a few have more than one question, but you might give some thought to actually having a small survey that a user could complete that would give visitors more information than just a star measure. For example, check out this site I've helped develop for rating physicians, http://www.DrScore.Com (and please rate your Doc while you there - shameless plug, Sorry!) But we have a survey that allows the user to do a simple 0-10 rating but then they can also complete a more exhaustive surver as well if they choose.

Anyway, from my perspective as someone who searches for reviews a lot since I travel a fair amount, getting more than just the basic info would be great.

Things you might ask could revolve around amenities (range, putting green, CART GIRL!!!), cost, green type, do they allow walking, if so how walkable is the course, pace of play, course/club type (muni, resort, country club), condition of course, public/private/semi-private, do they offer instruction, etc. Those are just a few ideas but that would set you a part from some of the existing sites.

I like the idea, and would really like to see a good single source.

We've tried (at DrScore) lots of things to try and get people to make ratings and it's hard. Incentivizing it could lead to people posting bogus reviews for courses they haven't played. You might offer to put all the reviewers in a hat for a monthly drawing for a iPod, iPhone, Driver, Wedge, etc. Honestly, I'd rate all the courses I play for nothing, but if it'd help get data in the system, it might be worth it.

Anyway, good luck with it. Keep us posted. Oh, might be nice to have some cross links between GGR and that site. So if someone finds one, they can find the other.

Wow, thanks for the great feedback guys.

I guess I thought one review for one buck isn't a lot, but if someone went in and submitted 50 reviews and got $50 that might be worth it to some.. But a prize would probably be better (and potentially cheaper in the long run, even if it was moderately expensive)

I really like the idea of having more options on the reviews too, as I haven't really been impressed with some of the golf course review sites out there. I really want to differentiate this one if possible.

Thanks to you both for the responses. Let me know if you have any other ideas..

Chris, good luck with the venture! When I first read about the "dollar a review," it seemed a good enough incentive for me to play the approx. 32,000 golf courses of the world! However, there would be too few courses left to review for the site once I finally raised in excess of a million bucks to fund my excursion...

At the least, I frequently play quite a few of the LA courses, and am willing to help in whatever fashion. If you want to help with funding the course-review excursion of my dreams, I could supply you with all the reviews (as I go) in around 32,000 days! But you probably want to be finished well before then..?

LOL... too funny... thanks for offering to help Wade. I will definitely take everyone up on it. Maybe what I'll do is just have a few contests for everybody that is in the beta review submision pool. That way there will be a higher chance of winning.

I'll have a go at doing some of the courses on this side of the pond.
Just to give you heads up though - one of the sites that I use over here, http://www.uk-golfguide.com ,gives scores for each review (but doesnt give anything for people to give reviews) - might be worth looking at for information

I look forward to your new site!

Wade would do anything for $1, or even less.

Chris I'd be glad to help out with my limited knowledge of courses here in my area, along with a few I have played in other places I've traveled or lived.

$1, or prize entry, or nothing at all doesn't much matter to me, I just think it would be fun to be able to tell all my buddies to go to the site and see the review i've written!

Chris,
I think your idea of networking golfers around the world is a great idea. For instance; I belong to a club in which I can actually play in eight different golf courses around the countryside, and pay only one monthly fee. As I play them I could submit reviews of each. I am going to ask the President of our golf club if it is alright to post the Golf Gear Review web site on the bulletin board in the clubhouse.

An incentive....? Why just having the honor of posting something to the GGR web site should be incentive enough.

Bo